Coupler



Sept. 11, 1934. E, A. LARssoN 1,973,570

COUPLER Filed Dec. 26, 1929 yy/r/vbss ZIENST ZSSON f W By ,)l/

, fforney Patented Sept. 11, 1934 UNITED sfrrvIfr-:fsi PATsNfrjomCE N,

n `1.973.570` I t 'v ooUPLER i v Y Ernst A. Larsson, Mansfield, ohimassignr to The 0hio Brass Company, Mansield, Ohio, a, i v(WY-poration of New Jersey v Y Application .DecemberY 26, iszasrial Nr4l6389 Y I f 9 Claims.-(Cl.l'213 ;49)

My invention relates to couplers for cars and particularly for mechanically coupling the cars together. y Y

The object of my inventionistoprovide a 3l' simplecoupler and one which will maintain two coupled heads in coupled relation without relative movement in a longitudinal direction. A further lobiect oetmy invention is'lto provide means Y of taking up lany slack between two .coupled heads 103 dueto wear in thervarious parts.4 A further object of my invention is to prevent uncoupli-ng due to the lockbeing moved Aout of its locking position and which often happens with 'the present type or tapered gravity locks. f l

" My invention resides in the new -andnovel construction, ccmbmatio'n and relation -of- -the various 'parts hereinafter described-and shown in the accompanying drawing.

Fig-'1 is a top view in partial section of my improved coupler head Yshown connected to the knuckleof a co-operating head. Y '-7 Fig. 2-is a plan view in partial section of my improved head showing-the knuckle in fan 'opened l5 position. j l Y Fig. 3 is a side view in partial section of my improved head showing the relation of the lock to the other partswhen the head 'is cou-pledoper-k ating under normal conditions-as in Fig. 1.A

' Fig. 4 isa side view in partial section of my invention showing the relation of the lock to other 4parts when the knuckle is in the open position -as in Fig. 2. Y

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view in section showing the relation of the lock to `the body 'when the lock may have been forced back while operating under normal conditions.A V-

In the preferred embodiment yof my invention I-employ a body member v1 :having tail portion mi 2;' for connecting to va Vdraft gear. Pivotally mounted in the open end of thef body '1' is a knuckle 3. The pivotal pin is shown as 4. The contour vof the hookportion 5 may be of standard MCB or ARA types -or'oth'er Asuitable contour. 'The '45.' knuckle `3 is provided-with 1a ltail portion 6 of the usual type. The tail 6 is provided with a lgroove portion? formed vby the rib 8 which may be upon the upper .and lower faces of the tail f6 and the surface 9 may be fan arc withrthe'fcenter of 4ra- 50i diuscoincrdmgfwnh .that of. the .pin 4.-

. Upon the innerfsurface of the upper 4and lower walls l0 .and 11. are raised ribs ".-12xhaving a face 13 formed'with the lcenter of the pin 4 asiitsxcenter .ofradius and when the knuckles are closed.

55? racers. wur/engage 'waartoe surface. 1s,l `thus re;

lieving the pini 4 of I-tenson strain upon two coupled heads. f f

YThe `tail 6 of the knuckle is so formed that aspace '14 exists 'between the tail and the body when the knuckle is in its fully closed position 6U; and-whenv-in suchposi-tion theknuckles of two operating heads will be closely interlocked with? each other vand with `the body and prevent Vany lost motion or relatively longitudinal". movement between the heads in a longitudinal direction. kIf 655; there is wear in any of `the parts as for instance the knuckle 3', the pin 4 or the face 15 of the body -then such wear may be taken V'up throughmovement of the tail portion 6 tow-ard the side wallof the body lthus'reducing the space 14.

In order to maintain the knuckles in closed position,y each head would be providedwith a longitudinally sliding lock16 having 'a faceA17- parallel with the direction of movement ofthe lock 16 and having a face 18 angularly disposed 75;- to the -f'ace 17 .and to the direction of movement' of the'lock. The tail l6 will have a face 19 which will be made to have Vthe sa-me angularity as that gofthe -face 18fof -a new head `and when the head is in coupled relation with a co-operating 8'0'.z head. This uniform angularity ofthesurfaces 18 vand 19, however, -isinot essential for the suc-V cessful operation of the coupler. The lock 16 slides rorwardly 'and backwardly between the guides '20 and `21 whichextend-between the upper 352 and lower horizontal sides-of vthe coupler head and are preferably separately formedand held in place bythe through pins 22. Y Y

` he member'zl has a face 23 vengaged by the face 111.1 The lmember 21 takes 'the side thrust 9o of the lock 16 due tothe pressure of theknuckle thereon.I The spring 24^interposed betweenV the back wa1l25 and the-lock vlftends constantly to move the lock 16'to a forward position; The spring "24 #rides `upon the 'center guide 'composed 95A` of fthe tubular member 26w-hichhas-one end secured t'o the 'back'wall-'Z and a rod 27 projecting from-the free -end fof the tube 26 and having an end platefZB secured thereto'arld lafnut 29 also securedthereto by means of which the relation 100 of Athe rod 27" to the tube "26 `may be 'shortened orlengthened.- f 4 Thelockil is provided with ltwo ridges 30 which support .the Allocklllro upon the 'lower' horizontal wallv 11;; The. lock 16 Ihasa :longitudinal 105 l disposed pocketrlr'odth a .ssloping :back wall 32 with .the forwardTend-of fthe sloping wall at the top; '.'ihe platefi under :normal operationfwh'en vthe two heads are coupled will engageithe lower portionl of the y.face 32 andffthe.ftendency of Athe 110 lo 16 to be retracted, then such retraction may take place until the rear lug drops into the transverse recess 33 as shown in Fig. 5, thus preventing further retraction of theY lock 16 beyond fithe.Vv

limit set by the recess 33 and such recess is so 30 will be assisted in dropping intov the recess 33 not only through the weight of the rear portion of the lock 16, but also through the alreadyv explained action of the spring upon the obliqu'ely disposedforward face 32 of the pocket-3l.

In order to uncouple two heads, as is well known, it is only necessary with the J anney type of coupler Atogmove only oneknuckle to its open position and this may be brought-about byY a rearward pull uponthe krod 3,4 which is transmitted to the downwardlyprojecting lugv secured to the lock 16 and which will 4have a tendency to simultaneously pivotthe lock 16 about the forward lug 30 and also move the lock y16 rearwardly and the rotation of the lock 16 about the forward lug 30 will either release the rear, lockw30 from the recess 3,3 or prevent such lock from dropping into the recess 33 if uncoupling takes place when the lock 16` is in the position shown in Fig. 3. v V- v Y U The pulling apart of the cars will cause the released knuckle to swing about its pin 4 and take the position shown in Fig. 2 and .when the uncou.l pling rod 34 is released, the spring 24 will move the lock 16 forwardly vand into engagement with the rear wall of the tail 6. If two heads are brought together Vwith one head having its knuckle closed andthe other open as inAFig. 2, theclosed knuckle will engage the forward face 1.9 of the knuckle 16 and force the knuckle 16 into its coupled positionl as shown. in Fig. 1 and the lock willassume the position shown in Fig. land will exert a continuous effort to rotatethe knuckle about its pin 4 thus movingthe portion 5 inwardly in contact with the portion 5 of the co-operating knuckle and which co-operating knuckle will be forced into contactwith the face 15 of the head. Where both heads are equipped alike then the action of both heads is similar and the heads will be drawn into a tight relation and held there against relative longitudinal movement with the body faces 36 held in close engagement; l

Another feature of my invention to insure the rear end of the lock 16 being thrown downward is to place the axis X--X of the spring- 24 and rod 27 below the center line Y-Y of Vthe vbearing between the knuckle andthe lock, that isthe forces tending to move the lock yback are centralized along the -centerofl bearing Y--Y between the-lock and knuckle tail and thev force of Tthe spring 24 tending to move the lock.l forward is along the line X-X and these twor forces form a couple tending to rotate therearqend Yof the lockdownward. Further itmay. be said that the point of application of 'the spring force upon the lock 16 should bebelow the point of application of thev opposing force between the lock andknuckle tail; i Y,

. Modifications will manifest themselves to those positioned that engagement betweenzthe'lock 161H and the tail 6 will still be maintained. The lug skilled in the art based upon the disclosure I have made herein, therefore I wish to be limited only by my claims.

Therefore I claim:-

1. A coupler comprising a body, a knuckle and locking mechanism, the locking mechanism movable,I into. and out, of locking relation with the knuckle and a spring constantly urging the locking mechanism into locking relation with the knuckle', means interposed between the body and locking mechanism to space the body and locking mechanism and to form a pivot for the locking mechanism and separate means on the body and locking mechanism to. co-operate to limit the unlockingmovement-.of the locking mechanism.

f Y' 2. A coupler comprising a body, a knuckle and a lock, movable into and out of engagement with Athe knuckle to Ymoveit to closed position or to `release. it respectively, one end of the locking mechanism having a slidable pivotal engagement with the body and the other endA having means'to engage a stop on the,body,means to en-g gage the means on the locking mechanism; with the stop; andmeans `operable at will vto movethe locking mechanism laboutgits pivotal engage?-v ment and release Vthe lockingr mechanismfrom the stop. 1 ,A i' 3. A coupler comprisingla body-,rai knuckle Sand a'rlock to wedge the knuckle to closed position when the lock moves in one-direction, meansto pivot the lock inone direction relativefto the body when :the lock has moved-in another-direc: tion a limited amount-,and means to limit thel amount of movement in said other direction,- means secured to the lock and projecting-through 11'() a-slotinthe body and means secured to said p ro-V jection to pivot lthe lock in the other direction at will and move the lockout of :ra-nge of the knuckle to permit the knuckle to open. -v 4. AA coupler of the` J anneytype having abody, a knuckle and horizontally movable locking means to engage the knuckle to moveittoand hold it in its closed position, means onthe body'tobe automaticallyV engagedl by the locking means; to limit the movement of the locking means in an uncoupling direction of the locking meansto prevent the accidental releasing of the knuckleand a spring which engages means on the lock to urge the locking means forward and operating to effect the engagement of the said'locking means with 125 the body.l z i j; `5. A coupler comprising ya fbody, a pivotally mounted knuckle, a horizontally movablelockingmechanism to engage and holdj the knuckle in the locked position, stop rneans -engagedby the locking mechanism-to limit the releasing mcvement of the locking mechanismshort of releasing the.. knuek1e and a lspring ,urging the ioekin'g mechanism intol engagementwith the knuckle and also into engagement withfsaidstop means as the lockingmeans moves to -its unlocking posi.: tion. fn -v r 6.A coupler comprising a body; aknuckle and a locking mechanism-,.:ajstop for said locking mechanism',.the locking mechanism comprising a movable member to engage. the knuckle` and'having a recessv closed at onemendbya wall having a' tapered face and a spring engaging that portion of A,the tapered face below. the horizontal center line of the,spring,,thel spring operating to move 14'5 the locking mechanism toits locking position and to'yieldingly hold-the end of the, locking mech-f anism 'opposite' the said wall .ini position` tofen gagewith the-'stopzto prevent the` unintentional uncoupling of, the;,coup1erfrom v a ecofoperating 150 coupler should the locking mechanism accidentally move backward.

7. A coupler comprising a body, a knuckle, a locking mechanism to move the knuckle to its closed position and so hold it, a spring urging the locking means in a coupling direction and means to limit the said urging of the spring against the locking mechanism and other means to limit the unintentional movement of the locking mechanism in an uncoupling direction to prevent unintentional release of the knuckle.

8. A coupler comprising a body, a knuckle and locking mechanism, a movement-limiting stop on the body, the locking mechanism movable into and out of locking relation With the knuckle and a spring constantly urging the locking mechanisrn into locking relation with the knuckle, spaced projections upon one side oi the locking mechanism to engage an interior face of the body and the locking mechanism being pivotal about one of said projections to bring the locking mechanism into engagement with the movement-limiting stop to prevent unintentional release of the knuckle.

9. A coupler comprising in combination a head,

a coupling knuckle pivotally mounted on the i body and the aforesaid stop means to permit the lock and catch to engage the stop means and means for pivoting the lock and catch out of engageable relation to the stop means and to Withdraw the Wedge lock and catch at will.

ERNST A. LARssoN. 

